Alexandria Black History Museum will open a watercolor and collagraph exhibition on Nov. 1. On Thursday, Nov. 2, the Alexandria Black History Museum will open an exhibition of watercolors and collagraph prints titled “African Encounters: Coast to Coast.”Through this exhibition, artist Kathleen Stafford explores the landscape, architecture, and people of Africa, providing a kaleidoscope of variety and color for the eye. This exhibition is free and open to the public. The exhibition will close on Jan.24, 2013.

Painting and printmaking in Africa for about 20 years, Kathleen Stafford has been enriched by working with African artists and by her immersion in African cultures from one side of the continent to the other. She currently resides in Khartoum, Sudan, one of the most ethnically diverse countries on the continent. From the stunning monuments of Cairo, the regal ceremonies crowning the village chief in the Ivory Coast, the fleeting expression of the kora maker in the Gambia, or the posture of the "Obioma," itinerant tailor in Lagos, Nigeria — Kathleen has cataloged them all in her watercolors and prints. Stafford's paintings and prints have been acquired by American and foreign embassies, museums, centers of art and culture, and private collectors around the world (http://kathleenstafford.wordpress.com/exhibitions/.) Her work will be featured in an Africa Green Conference in Lagos, Nigeria in 2013. The Alexandria Black History Museum is located at 902 Wythe St. in Alexandria's Parker-Gray Historic District and is open from Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visit www.alexblackhistory.org.